Salem Falls

Zayn woke up that morning with only one thing on his mind: Maggie.

He spent the entire day trying to forget about her. He focused on everything from studying his spell book to planning ceremonies for the Sixth Circle, but no matter how hard he tried, her blonde hair and sweet face was always in his way. He couldn’t get anything done, because all he could think about was her.

After an entire day of pretending he could forget about her, the sun was beginning to set, and he still couldn’t get her out of his head. He knew he had to do something – anything – to get her out of his mind, so almost as if he was tricking himself, he agreed that the only way he could forget about her was if he saw her one last time, even though it hadn’t worked before.

He had her phone number tucked away somewhere in his house, but he didn’t remember where, and he’d always been the face-to-face type, anyway, so on a whim, he decided instead to trek to her house like his body had tricked him into doing so many times before, but this time it was a conscious decision to walk along the sidewalk headed straight for her house.

Mr. Snow was the protective type, and Zayn didn’t want him to get the wrong idea about him – both out of fear of losing his ties to the police force and Maggie – so he wasn’t sure if he should knock, but before he could decide, almost as if she had knew he was coming, Maggie stepped out onto the porch, in a pair of tattered jeans and a cardigan, and Zayn thought he’d never seen her look so perfect.

He wanted so badly to tell her, but he pushed the thought out of his mind, because he know it could never be that way between them. Not with the Sixth Circle and Lucie’s parents breathing down his neck. If they even knew that he’d come to see Maggie, he’d be dead, just like Liam would be if they knew about him. He was going against the Sixth Circle’s code of honor and you didn’t disobey the Sixth Circle and get away with it.

“Zayn?” Maggie whispered, as she stood on top of her porch looking down at him. “What are you doing here?”

What was he doing there? He knew he’d come to see her, but he didn’t know what he expected to get out of it. Seeing her only made it harder to forget her. He wanted to keep Maggie safe from the backlash of the Sixth Circle, and he knew the best way to do that was to stay away from her, but the irrational part of him just wanted to see her again and again.

He should’ve lied to her and told her he was there to see her father, but he couldn’t.

“I came to see you,” he said simply, almost regretting the words as soon as they came out. His damn thoughts wouldn’t stay in his head, and his loose lips were going to be the death of them both.

“Me?” she asked, as she tiptoed down the stairs. “Why?”

He didn’t know why he had come or even what he expected to come next, but his body was telling him to just roll with it, and whatever happened would make sense in time.

“I wanted to show you something.”

Maggie raised her eyebrows at him, while a small smile fell to her face. She was curious, just like he was, so of course she couldn’t say no.

“Go on then,” she said, giving a soft nod of her head.

His fingers moved to the back of his head, rubbing it nervously. “It’s not here.”

“Where is it then?” she asked, as she padded down the few steps to stand in front of him. Even from the few feet away, he could smell the lavender falling from her hair, and he thought he’d never smelt anything so wonderful in his whole life.

He knew the moment he answered her question she’d be taken aback, but there was only one thing in the world that he wanted to show Maggie, so he hoped she’d agree anyway.

“It’s in the woods,” he whispered, hoping she wouldn’t run away immediately. With the series of murders that had been happening in the area, going into the woods certainly wasn’t the safest thing to do, but Zayn felt confident in his ability to protect Maggie, and he hoped that she would be too.

“My father’s going to kill me,” she giggled, a large smile on her face. It looked promising, and he hoped he wasn’t wrong. “Which way is it?”

He smiled back at her, before motioning for her to follow him.

Was dragging Maggie out into the woods the best idea Zayn had ever had? Absolutely not. But it was exactly what he wanted to do, and as he walked along the sidewalk with her, headed straight for the small opening in the brush, he thought the moment couldn’t feel more perfect.

She was so close to him that he could almost touch her, and he wondered that if he did, he might finally be able to get her out of his head.

The whole time they walked through the woods, with the sun disappearing more and more by the second, he thought about reaching over and brushing his hand against her arm. Maybe he would say it was an accident, or maybe he’d keep it there and pretend he was helping her walk.

Before he could muster up the courage to lift his arm, the brush opened up and they were in a small clearing, no bigger than a bedroom, that was surrounded by trees on both sides, with a canopy of branches above them.

Small logs were tossed about the opening, which Zayn and Harry had used as seats when they were younger. On one of the edges was a wooden sword, which Zayn recognized immediately as his, and he almost couldn’t believe it was still out there after all that time.

It had been years since he had made his way out to he and Harry’s childhood fort, but it looked almost exactly the same, aside from the fact that it was a bit more overgrown than before.

Maggie didn’t say anything to Zayn, as she looked around the clearing. He wondered what she was thinking and if she had any clue why he’d brought her out there.

She wrapped her cardigan more tightly around her, as a bit of wind blew past them, while Zayn silently cursed himself for not wearing a jacket to give her.

“Are you chilly?” he asked, as he watched her step further into the clearing.

She shook her head, before running her fingers over one of the logs.

The sun had finally made its swoop over the horizon, and the moon was lighting up the area, however faint that light was. It brushed along Maggie’s hair and made her look more radiant than she already did. No matter how many times he looked at her, he could never get over how perfect she looked.

“What is this place?” she asked. She turned around to face him, with her teeth tugging at her lower lip. Her eyelashes were batting against her face, and he’d never seen anyone look so sweet and gentle in his entire life, especially considering he’d always been surrounded by the rude women of the Sixth Circle.

“It’s my old fort,” he said, as he took a seat on one of the logs. “From when I was younger.”

Maggie gave him a soft smile, giggling slightly, as she took a seat on the log next to him. She was so close again, and every second she was near him, it became harder not to reach out and touch her, just so he could feel what is like to hug her again.

“It’s lovely,” she chuckled, as she looked down at the forest floor. She was kicking her legs back and forth, gently swinging them against the leaves below.

Her kicks counted the seconds, and with every one of them, another thought raced through Zayn’s mind that told him he needed to stay away from her. He needed to take Maggie home and forget all about her. He needed to run back to the Sixth Circle and pretend that she didn’t exist. He needed to do a lot of things, for both him and Maggie, but he couldn’t.

All he could think about was her perfect smile, her soft hair, her sweet lips, and how it would feel to touch them for the first time. He needed Maggie – to at least know what she was like – more than he needed anything.

“Maggie,” he whispered, as he looked over at her moonlit hair. She looked back at him, and the way her eyes caught the light made him feel like everything was going to be okay. He was more nervous than he had ever been, but her eyes, as sweet as they were, drew him in until all he could feel was her.

Before he had time to give it a second thought, he reached his hand out and ran it through her hair. She almost seemed shocked when he did it, with her lips a trembling mess and her eyes as curious as ever, but she didn’t move. She only looked back at him with her face unreadable.

It took every bit of courage that he had, but he brought that hand to her cheek, running his thumb over her soft skin. He could feel his pulse pounding inside him, but even as nervous as he was, nothing had ever felt so right before.

He used every bit of energy he had to stop his body from shaking, as he slowly leaned towards the girl he’d been unable to stop thinking about. Her eyes looked straight into his until the very last second.

All he wanted was Maggie.

He didn’t care about the Sixth Circle and how they’d banish him if they knew. He didn’t care about how disappointed his mother would be. He didn’t care that they wouldn’t have anyone’s approval, or that he was breaking every rule he’d ever been given. He just needed to feel her.

As both of their eyes fell shut, he leaned forward, until his lips gently brushed against hers. A heat ran through his body that felt stronger than any magic he had felt before, and every second their lips were together, he felt like he was melting against her. He was so focused on kissing Maggie and the incredible way that she made him feel that he almost didn't notice the pulsing pain than radiated through his body, starting at the seal that connected him to a girl he didn't want.